Splitting Truth
by ShootingStarz01
Summary: When trapped in insanity, you can't save yourself. When other people know of your insanity, do they still stick by you? What if they don't? What if you're alone? The truth hurts, but can it kill? SLIGHT ShadowxRouge.
1. The Plot

_**Disclaimer/Author's Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters © SEGA! That's Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Shadow, and Rouge… All the other miscellaneous people belong to me, namely Thorn and the voice…**_

_**Yes, the voice. He's actually a character, not just a voice. XD **_

_**Confusing, I know. I don't expect you to understand… but he still belongs to me. ^^;**_

_**This story is rated "T" for a reason. Be mindful that there's lots of blood in this! Also note that some characters may be **__**slightly**__** OOC, or **__**seem**__** OOC due to certain unmentioned circumstances. Over all, I did my best to keep them in character… At least, according to my alternate Sonic universe, they're perfectly in character…**_

_**All reviews are appreciated, as long as you aren't flaming.**_

**Splitting Truth**

**By Maria Springer**

It was a beautiful evening. The night was alight with stars. Thousands of them seemed to be scattered throughout the sky; tonight, the moon was an extremely thin crescent, shining brightly against the darkness… but the intentions of a certain hedgehog were dark… darker than the blackest night.

He should have never given this planet a second chance. Promise or no promise, he was beginning to see that the world _wasn't_ worth such trouble. They all should have died. Every last one of them… Everyone he had trusted had turned on him. Everyone he had known had deceived him. Soon it would be as it once was on ARK. They would capture him, weaken him, and push him and his powers to the _limit_ while trying to gather data about him. He would be tormented, pained, starved, and deprived from all comfort, all "for the sake of science".

There was only one way to stop it: They all had to die. They would pay for their sins and pay for their judgment. _Especially_ for all that was against the innocent. All the humans ever did was argue, fight one another, steal, lie, cheat, and degrade others.

They were all the same. Every last one of them.

Earlier in the day, Shadow the Hedgehog had been standing at an opened window, seething with rage. He was sure now that the last missions GUN had sent him on had been simple set-ups, designed to try and murder him. And every time he returned in one piece, everyone at headquarters seemed so shocked. They plastered fake smiles on their faces or looks of satisfaction with his accomplishments. But he could see right through them; they were terrified that he was able to evade their traps. They hated his very soul and desired for him to die in the most painful way possible. And for what reason? Because they feared his power.

They had every right to fear him. There was nothing—_no one_—to stand in his way this time. He would crush this planet _single-handedly_, and no one would realize what he was doing until it was too late. Not GUN, not Dr. Robotnik, not even Sonic. He had the perfect plan…

"Shadow? You've been standing there the last three _hours_… Are you feeling okay?" A voice asked.

…And that plan would start with the death of the worst traitor of them all: Rouge the bat.

Shadow turned around calmly, giving his old friend a fake, yet completely convincing smile. "I'm alright." His tone held no trace of hostility. Rouge would never know what hit her…

"…Okay then…" Rouge tried to hold back a coughing fit. She had started to get sick the week before, and now it seemed she had the flu and coughing symptoms. GUN had given her time off until she was well again, but the sickness was getting steadily worse. As bad as it was, Rouge was clearly more concerned about other things right now… "Are you sure you're alright? Maybe you should sit down awhile so—" She began to suggest, sounding concerned.

"I don't need to sit down." He answered. He managed not to sound impatient or annoyed, but she saw a glimmer of annoyance in his eyes.

She sighed deeply. Unfortunately, she couldn't hold back a cough this time. There was a short pause as she cleared her throat. "It was just a suggestion… I'm sorry, it's just I'm _really_ starting to worry about you… GUN has been sending you on missions almost," she coughed again. It was a struggle to finish what she was trying to say. She was beginning to lose her voice already. "…_continuously_, you've hardly _slept_, you haven't eaten much, and you've been spending _all_ your spare time staring out that window! You didn't used to be like that, but the last few weeks… it's like…" The bat trailed off sadly. She didn't know what was going on with her friend. She could tell he wasn't at all happy, and if this kept up, he definitely wouldn't be healthy either. He'd be in a worse state than she was at the current moment. And what if he was depressed? He was good at hiding such things, but not from her… She worried that if he was depressed, he might harm himself…

His response only concerned her more. "Don't worry about me, Rouge. I would worry more about myself if I were you…" Something about the way he said this made her feel a bit uneasy, but she pushed the feeling aside. "You should be asleep. I can tell that cough of yours is getting worse…" His look of concern and kindly tone was just convincing enough for her to believe him.

She nodded and turned from him, but suddenly turned back to face him again. "Shadow?"

"Yes?" Shadow answered, restraining himself from hitting her. _This is getting irritating… Make up your mind!_

"How come you never give anyone a chance?"

Shadow's fake smile faded, giving way to honest confusion. "What?"

"You're nice to _some_ people… but you're not nice to most people. If someone you don't know… asks you a question or tries to get to know you, you snap at them…"

There was a brief silence. "Why _should_ I be kind to strangers? I don't know them."

"What reason is there not to be kind? …Shadow, a lot of people are _hurting_. Just because they are strangers… doesn't mean they're not _people_. Sometimes if a stranger is nice to them, it makes them feel… a little better." Rouge shivered a bit, feeling cold.

Shadow gave her a stubborn look. "I don't see _why_ I should be kind to strangers. They're _never_ kind to me. Most of the time, I don't see why I should be kind to _anyone_! They stare at me like I'm some sort of disease and treat me like I'm inferior! They wouldn't even stand a chance against _me_ if they tried to prove it. Pathetic… For all I care they can burn!"

Rouge could hardly wait for him to finish. "You're so… _cold-hearted_!" She practically shouted this, angrily turning away from him and running to her room. She didn't want to talk to him anymore, but she thought about what he had said.

Shadow scoffed, turning back to the window. Destroying this planet would be a lot less cold-hearted than watching it slowly destroy itself. In the long run, there would only be more suffering if he did nothing. Certainly, nothing else was going to stop the suffering, which fed off of depression, anxieties, lies, hatred, and rage. If he destroyed the planet, it would end quickly. There would hardly be enough time for fear or pain. It would definitely be faster than his fall from space had lasted, so it couldn't be categorized as a cruel sort of killing. Surely even Maria would have understood his reasoning? It was a mercy killing. If everything was ended now, the ongoing suffering would be cut short.

Besides that, they simply didn't deserve to live. Maria had been his only real friend, and they had killed her. Although it had been fifty years ago… they would have done the same thing today. He had given them a chance, even if Rouge didn't think so. He'd given them plenty of chances! They just never changed… They created their own ruin; their own despair. Surely Maria would have understood that if she were here with him? He had tried to be patient with the humans and help them out, but they accepted such kindness only to hide their hate. Would Maria really have him bend to their every whim, only to receive hatred in return?

Of course not! She would understand.

Shadow turned his thoughts back over to his plan. It was relatively simple: He would murder Rouge, then hide her body in the basement. Since she was sick, no one would come looking for her for quite awhile… But in case someone did, he would simply forge a note that said she was out of town and stick it on the front door.

Once this was done, he'd find the Chaos Emeralds. He'd get the Emeralds that needed to be stolen last, and use Chaos control to get to his next location so that he could not be followed. The remaining Emeralds that were not in anyone's care would be looked for first. It would attract less attention.

…And once all seven Chaos Emeralds were collected, he'd teleport straight to the cannon's core on the Space Colony ARK. The Eclipse Cannon would only take a few minutes to charge, and then it would be all over.

Although Shadow himself would not be on earth, he still did not expect to survive very long afterward. Without the planet, the Colony would have no center of gravity to orbit around. If the moon had enough gravity, and the ARK was close enough to the moon, there was a mild chance that the ARK could orbit the moon. But, it was a very slim chance. More likely, the ARK would stop its orbit immediately and be hit by the planet remains that flew at it. That could cause the ARK to explode, or just be damaged enough so that he would either be killed on impact or sucked out into space (whereon he would be unable to breath, and die more painfully than anyone else in the moment's holocaust). Shadow expected it, and it didn't bother him.

What did bother him was he needed to research at some point to find the locations of the Chaos Emeralds that he would need to steal…

_Be-Be-Be-Beep! Be-Be-Be-Beep! Be-Be-Be-Beep!_

Shadow snapped out of his thoughts as the sound rang in his ears. He looked at his watched and turned off the alarm that was on it. It was 5:30. Shadow was supposed to take his medication right now, since it was supposed to help him with a problem he had been having lately. A couple of weeks ago, he had gone to the doctor's office and complained about having hallucinations, asking if he could have something to make it stop. What those hallucinations had been, Shadow could no longer remember. He could only remember that they had unnerved him and made him wonder if he was going insane… The medication had stopped the hallucinations, so the black hedgehog no longer worried about it.

Shadow walked into the kitchen and drifted over to the medicine cabinet, still lost in thought. When he got there, however, he stopped. He was going to destroy the planet in three to four days; maybe even less if he could find the emeralds fast enough. Why worry about hallucinations? Why bother with the medication?

He closed the cabinet door. He wouldn't worry about it. What he needed to worry about was where the Chaos Emeralds were hiding… The hedgehog looked at his watch again. It would be best to get as early of a head-start as he could. He'd research for the next few hours. Rouge would die at midnight.


	2. Fear

***

Shadow looked at the computer's clock. It was 11:43 now; seventeen minutes until midnight. He had managed to find information on four of the emeralds, but that meant that he would need to find the remaining three by himself. This bothered him. He didn't like not having the information he wanted…

_Oh well._ He would need to deal with that later. For now, he had another task to attend to. _Let's get this over with…_

Shadow crept silently into the kitchen and pulled a knife out of the knife drawer at random. He honestly didn't care what he used; he just wanted to kill her quickly… Careful not to make any noise, Shadow closed the drawer again.

The black hedgehog made his way across the floor and over to the stairway, pausing when he reached the bottom. Then, step by step, he prowled up the staircase.

His ascension was slow and nearly noiseless. One creeping step followed after the next. As silent as he tried to be, it seemed to him that the small noises he made echoed through the house like the ticking of a dying clock, or the slowed beating of a heart.

Even louder was the sound of the clock that rested in the downstairs hall. The clock's ticking gave him a slight feeling of discomfort and uncertainty. But up the stairs Shadow continued. Step by step, inch by inch… Why was his heartbeat starting to match with the ticking of the clock?

He shoved the eerie feeling aside. It was pathetic for him to allow himself fear. Why should he be afraid? He was going to die anyway, he expected, and he already knew he would not be caught a killer. His fate was inevitable if he wanted to end all misery on this planet. This did not unnerve him, yet something else did… The feeling haunted him like a ghost; he could only do his best to keep it out of his mind.

The two and a half minutes he spent edging up the stairs passed very slowly. When he finally reached the top, he almost felt sure that a quarter of an hour had already passed. The closer he got to her bedroom, the slower the clock seemed to tick. From where he was, he could barely hear it now, but his ears were telling him that something wasn't right… Shadow walked up to Rouge's bedroom door, trying to make his footsteps as soft as possible. He stopped to listen. He could hear her breathing somewhat slowly, which suggested she was asleep. The black hedgehog smirked. This would make things a whole lot easier… her death would be quick.

The door was partially open. Using his free hand, the hedgehog pushed the door open very slowly, and then took one step inside…

"…Shadow?"

_Dang it._ Shadow refrained himself from muttering a curse. He casually moved the hand holding the knife behind his back so that she would be unable to see it. Despite his frustration and disappointment, he answered her in the most caring voice he could manage, "Yes, Rouge?"

The white bat sat up in bed very slowly and weakly, looking at him. The moonlight was being covered up by the window curtains, but she could see her old friend plain as day with her night vision. "…Why are you in my room?"

Shadow smiled sweetly. "I just wanted to check on you. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you… Or were you having trouble sleeping?" The smile slowly changed back to a frown.

"Yeah… I'm having a hard time… I should probably take a sleeping pill, but I never needed them before…" Rouge sighed, coughing a bit before she was finished.

"Why don't you?" Shadow asked.

"…Well, I never needed them… so I never bought any… I'll have to go to the store tomorrow to get some… maybe if I can finally get some decent rest I can get better…" She cleared her throat.

"Yes… you will." Shadow squeezed the knife behind his back. The annoyance in his voice was hardly there, yet completely unmistakable to the white bat. She felt a little nervous.

"…Shadow, is there something wrong?"

"No, no! I'm fine… Why do you ask?"

"You seem to be really… temperamental lately…"

"…I'm just tired."

"Then why aren't you asleep?"

"Maybe I don't want to go to sleep."

There was a long pause in which neither of them moved or breathed a word. Finally, Rouge whispered, slipping out of bed and weakly standing up, "Shadow, you haven't been sleeping _at all_ lately… That could have a terrible effect on your coordination, or mission performance… or even just your _thinking_… Plus you _need_ rest! Don't you know you can die from lack of sleep?"

Shadow scoffed. "I can't die from lack of something as pathetic as rest. I'm the ultimate life form."

Wrong answer.

Rouge walked over to him. _Crap_, he thought. He considered taking a step backwards, but he knew that would do no good. She seemed suspicious of his behavior already, and taking a step back would only make things worse… It wasn't as if it mattered that much, though. He could see plainly that killing her quietly was no longer an option. It wouldn't make any difference if he ran up to her swung his knife now, or waited until she was close enough to embrace him to sink the blade into her heart. If he wanted to wait even longer, he could wait until she fell asleep again, but then who knew if she would just wake up again once he entered back into the room?

The hedgehog didn't move as the bat kept drawing nearer to him until she was just one foot away. "You can't just keep acting like you're invincible! Ultimate life form or not, you have to remember, you are mortal now! You can't live forever! You don't have all the time in the world anymore… Don't you know that?"

No answer. Rouge sighed again and continued, "You're my best friend… I just hate to see that you're not taking care of yourself! I don't want you to get deathly ill, or seriously injured, or get hurt at all _just_ because of some stupid decision you've made not to let yourself rest or let yourself eat or let yourself do anything that you _need_ to be doing!"

Again, there was no answer. Rouge was almost becoming angry due to his carelessness. "Shadow, I'm worried about you! Please, take care of yourself and stop treating me like a stranger! I would never _forgive_ myself if anything happened to you!"

"What does it matter to you?" The black hedgehog mumbled.

"Shadow, _I care about you_! You've always been such a great friend to me…" She suddenly wrapped him in a hug. Shadow stiffened, trying not to cut her yet. He didn't even really want to be hugged, but after a few seconds, he realized that he would have to not only allow this, but use it to his advantage. Carefully moving the knife around her to where it was positioned behind her back, Shadow returned the hug half-heartedly. The white bat continued, "I just want to be as great of a friend to you as you are to me… I just don't know how… I owe you so much, especially because you've saved my life so many times…"

Her embrace was gentle and loving. There was no hostility to it. It seemed so genuine… but was it really? Shadow remembered why she was one of the few people he ever allowed to hug him. She always seemed to mean it… he realized he had missed her hugs the last few weeks. Still, he did not answer her.

"…Shadow… Please say something… If something's bothering you, you can always tell me… That's what friends are for."

"Everything's fine…"

"Then why won't you talk to me anymore…? I've been trying to talk to you… but even when you answer me it's like you don't want to… You haven't been yourself…"

Shadow had a strange feeling… It was hardly there, but he could feel it all the same. It was like sadness and remorse… Was it guilt?

A voice screamed at him from the inside. _She's lying! Kill her now! Strike her down!_

…_Why?_

Suddenly, he was split by confusion. Did he really know what he was doing? Was he actually doing the right thing, or was he allowing his emotions to play with him like a puppet? What if he was doing the wrong thing? What then? Shadow considered the situation. He usually listened to the voice in his head when his actions were illogical. Whenever he used reason, he ignored it…

Reasonably, there were people all over the world who were kind… and a good portion of the population consisted of children who were just as innocent as Maria had been…

Guilt struck down on him like a thousand knives. What was he doing this for? To rid the world of sorrow? There would be no world if he continued. There were so many good people in the world that would prefer to live out life as a whole, even with the bad things and the people who had such bad intentions. He hadn't even thought about the fact that so many of whom he would slaughter would be children…! Hurting a single child would be awful, and he would be killing them all! What sort of monster was he?

And the voice! From the start he should have seen that he was going the wrong way… But no, he had not only listened to it, but he had agreed with it! Half of the things that had gone through his mind earlier had not even been _his_ thoughts, but the words of the voice! He had thought that they had been his thoughts, but thinking about it…

_I'm such a moron…! That stupid—_

He felt Rouge suddenly stiffen in his arms. "S-shadow? A-are you holding something?"

Shadow snapped out of his thoughts, and quickly realized that he was holding the knife right against her back. If he brought it any closer, it would break her skin… She herself was at many times like a child… Sometimes she reminded him of Maria. This was something he had forgotten. Of course, there were times where she acted nothing like Maria as well, but these differences did not make him hate her… After they had become friends they had gotten along well… up until today, he had cherished her friendship…

Without showing any signs of alarm, the black hedgehog casually moved the knife away from her and hid it again. At the same time, he let go of her and gently pushed her away with his free-hand. "No, what would make you think that?" Without waiting for an answer, he coldly turned away from her, careful to keep the knife out of her sight. "You should try to get back to sleep. I'm going to bed. Sweet dreams…" He stormed out of the room.

Rouge paused a moment, startled by Shadow's odd behavior. For a moment, she had thought that he had calmed down and had been back to normal… but then she had felt something on her back which had left her blood to run cold. It had only lasted a few seconds, though… maybe she had imagined it…

Or maybe not. After all, Shadow had gone right back to acting hostile after she said something…

Rouge walked toward the door and opened it, following after her friend. She mostly just wanted to see if he was really going to bed, but part of the reason was also that the panic had not completely left her. She still felt as if her blood was about to turn to ice.

She reached the top of the stairs, looking down onto the second floor. Shadow had just reached the bottom of the stairs. He was staring at the ground.

He had had the voice in his mind for as long as he could remember, but it left him mentally unstable. He confused wrong and right, he had an even harder time deciding on what to do sometimes because of this… His judgment was completely flawed.

Shadow saw something out of the corner of his eye. His head immediately jerked toward the window that he had been looking out earlier, and he froze. For a split second, he saw ghostly mist in a humanistic shape, then the mist was completely gone.

Shadow cursed himself quietly, heart pounding. He should have taken the medication earlier… and yet… could that have been what was helping his mind to run haywire? True, he had eaten little and had little rest since he had first ordered the prescription from the doctor, but for some reason, complete destruction of the planet running through his mind didn't seem to be something that could be caused from lack of food or sleep. Being the ultimate life form, not a normal hedgehog, the medication could very well help cause hallucinations instead of prevent them. …What had been the problem in the first place? He tried to remember…

…The looks of his co-workers. That had been the problem! He had thought he had been imagining or hallucinating their want of his death, and because of this had thought himself insane! It had greatly alarmed him, so he had thought maybe he had lost his mind. He took the medication, and afterward, he had started seeing similar things with his friends. So it was the medication that had helped to cause this! His friends did not really want him dead. He had imagined it all…

But this did not explain everything. Assuming the medication had caused this, he would have only seen everyone's hate of him after he started taking it. But his co-workers, except for Rouge, had all seemed to want to kill him before he started taking the medication. After he had started to take it, he had assumed that they really did want to kill him… but surely not all his co-workers with GUN wanted him dead? He had thought that Agent Steven was a good ally, yet before he even started taking the medication, he had thought that Steven hated him too. It had been suddenly, just two days before he had gone to the doctors that everyone suddenly seemed to want him dead…

…That meant he was at least partially insane… Being mentally unstable already, this made him dangerous…

Shadow unhid the knife, unconsciously holding it in Rouge's plain sight. She froze, feeling as if her blood had dropped below zero degrees. How long had he been carrying that knife around? More importantly, why had he been carrying it around?

Shadow looked at it. The penalty for killing was death. It was one of the only two crimes that deserved death. He had been about to kill billions of people, and he could have gotten away with it. No other killer could match that. Was he really any better than a killer? He had decided against his plans at the last minute, but he had been about to kill the entire world mercilessly… No, he was worse than a killer, far worse…

Maria was looking down upon him from heaven with immense disappointment and shame.

Although unknowing of his intentions, Rouge was looking down upon him from the stairway in horror. Shadow did not realize that she was there, but he knew that if she had known his intentions, she would hate him for eternity.

Somewhere in the house, the grandfather clock began to sing its midnight song.

Shadow's guilt became self-loathing. No one was safe while he was around. Not Rouge, not GUN, not even Sonic or Dr. Robotnik. He faintly remembered something he had read: If you think it, you might as well have done it. As a sin, it was counted as the same thing. Shadow did not believe in God like Rouge and Maria did, but he knew that that saying had great truth to it. He could almost feel the planet's blood on his hands…

The clock struck one. The black and red hedgehog raised the knife he held. He did not fear death. He did not want anyone to get hurt. He just wanted everyone to be safe from him… Rouge flinched, her grip greatly tightening on the stairs banister.

The clock struck two. The knife tore across the surface of his chest. He gasped, but tried to hold his pain inside. His friend also gasped, mind racing, heart pounding.

The clock struck three. He tore through his wrist, trying not to cry out or gasp and letting his crimson blood fall to the floor and splatter. "_Shadow_!" Rouge dashed down the stairs as she began to cry. _I have to make him stop…! Why is he doing this?!_

The clock struck four. Shadow collapsed on his knees. Although his lower arm's muscles screamed in pain and almost refused to be of any use to him, he took the knife in his other hand, and with effort, forced himself to cut through his other wrist. He choked on a sob. Rouge was a mere second too late to stop him. More blood spilled. Rouge dropped to the floor at his side.

The clock struck five. The knife dropped from Shadow's hand, hitting his leg and causing a small cut in it. He trembled, feeling weak and faint, and starting to feel dizzy as well. Pain was surging through him from the wounds he had created. He wanted to scream, but he held it back with all his might, only letting tears escape from his eyes and sobbing quietly. Rouge grabbed the knife as soon as she could so he wouldn't try to pick it up again. Briefly, she left him there, dashing as quickly as she could to the kitchen to throw the knife in the sink and then over to the telephone to dial 911.

The clock stuck six. Rouge almost couldn't dial the numbers due to her terror. Shadow curled up in a ball, but did not try to stop the bleeding, against his very instincts. He cried.

Seven… eight… nine… ten… eleven… Rouge hurriedly explained the situation to the operator, then ran back to Shadow. He was barely aware of her presence. He felt like he was drowning in pain and agony, but too weak to cry out and too weak to move. He tried to open his eyes, but when he did, he shut them again. The room was spinning too much and it was too blurry to make out a single object.

The clock struck twelve. For the next few minutes, Shadow was faintly aware of Rouge holding him in her arms, trying to stop his bleeding the best that she could herself. She was whispering to him, crying, stroking his fur once the ambulance arrived and she could do nothing more… but it seemed to be nothing more than a dream… the pain was fading. He began to feel numb. Weakness began to simply feel like nothingness. His hearing left him next. The blaring sirens became soft whispers, and Rouge's voice became silent. It only took fifteen seconds before even the sirens fell silent, and he was alone in the dark.

The darkness took over, and all existence ceased.


	3. Bright Lights

***

Numb. Nothing could be felt. Nothing could be seen. There seemed to be no existence. No further point to life. There was nothing here…

…But there were voices. Several voices. They were talking, but he could make out no words. He was only faintly aware of them, and he hardly thought about them for the longest time. But as time dragged on, he became increasingly aware of them. He tried harder to hear the faint whispers and make out the words. Curiosity nagged at him. He waited until he could finally hear them again.

"…that… I mean… reason could be anywhere… grave." The words seemed to fade in and out. He would catch almost a full sentence and then miss a few words, but the next sentence would be almost completely incomprehensible except for one or two words. The voices seemed familiar, but they were not distinct to him either. The harder he tried to listen, the further away he felt. It was like being trapped inside a dream of a dream…

A female voice spoke up. "But what if it's our fault?! …causes of suicide… that someone feels like they don't have a place in the world!" By now, the dreamer was starting to hear more. Now, his ears were starting to skip only the words that would overload his brain with splitting pain because of the intensity of the sound.

A low male voice. "It's not like he couldn't come and visit us! He just never wanted us around!" The word 'around' seemed to have practically been yelled, causing the dreamer's head to hurt even more. He wanted to sit upright and cover his sensitive ears, but he found he couldn't move his muscles because they were refusing the commands from his mind.

A higher male voice. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Guys, this is nothing to have a fight over! Yes, we need to help him. And yeah Knux, he hasn't exactly been a super friendly towards anyone, but he's still our friend… Maybe he just didn't trust us enough with his feelings yet—"

The low male voice spoke again. "Trust us with his feelings?! If he doesn't trust us with his feelings, he can't be our friend in the first place! That's what friendship is for; it's a bond of trust!"

A child's voice spoke now, that of a little boy. "But Knuckles, it takes time… Emotional stability in a friendship is very hard to keep, even for the best of friends! They develop some distrust too! We can't expect him to just trust us… he's a loner for the most part. He hardly trusts anyone… Not-uh! Don't you say a word! It's time to discuss Cream!"

…_Cream?_

The higher pitched male voice. "Yeah, Amy! No talk of suicide when Cream gets here! 'Shadow had an accident, so he's very sad and he'll appreciate it if you just talk to him a little', got it? That's what we have to say…"

The female voice. "…I-I know… but it's lying to her, in a way. In some ways, it would be better if she understood the situation."

"Amy, she's only six… it's not right for her to hear about people trying to take themselves out of the world… death is a big enough deal to her, she's not going to understand… she won't stop crying if we tell her about—"

The sound of a door opening made its way to Shadow's ears. Silence fell on the voices, until a little girl's gave a quiet and solemn, "Hello…"

The other voices turned from solemn, sad, and angry to cheerful. The voice of the little boy spoke out first. "Hello, Cream!"

"Hey Cream!"

"Nice to see ya, kiddo!"

A mumble. Shadow realized that this was probably Knuckles. The older female voice seemed to belong to Amy Rose. The little boy's voice registered as Miles "Tails" Prower, and if all else failed, Shadow was positive that the higher-pitched male voice belonged to his old rival, Sonic. From the greetings, he concluded that the newest voice belonged to Cream.

Pain shot through his head. He heard another voice, but it wasn't in the room… it was at Rouge's house… and on the ambulance…

The black and red hedgehog finally moved out of impulse, many of his muscles tightening from such intense pain in his head. However, this only made damage worse as he felt almost as if both of his wrists and his chest had been stabbed. His eyes flew open. He gasped, giving a small cry, and forced himself to relax again. Every head turned to him immediately, but he saw it not. The lights above him and the brightness of the room kept him dizzy, dazed, and blinded. He shut his eyes tightly for a moment, and then tried to adjust them. It took several moments. During this time, he faintly heard his friends talking in low voices.

"Look, he's awake…" Amy sighed.

"That's good… I hope he's alright…" Tails whispered.

"…Shadow? Can you hear us?" Sonic walked over to the bedside and sat down on it, careful not to disturb Shadow. He looked on his friend with concern.

Cream slowly approached Shadow on the other side. "…Mr. Shadow?" Her innocent chocolate-colored eyes rested upon him in a deeply saddened gaze. "W-what happened to you?"

Amy recited their alibi. "He had an accident, Cream… he's very sad right now…" Her tone was solemn and grievous. She did not like to lie.

"W-will he be okay?" Her sweet, sad eyes looked back Amy to Shadow, whom she thought of as an older brother.

"He'll be okay, Cream… let's just talk to him. I think he would like that." Tails mustered a weak smile. His twin tails rested, curled around his legs, which Cream thought to mean there was nothing more to worry about. Still, she remained concerned, bringing out a 'get well' card from her pocket.

"I-I hope you feel better, Mr. Shadow…" She placed the card gently on top of Shadow's lap. Shadow looked at the young rabbit in surprise, slowly propping himself up. The hedgehog concealed his pain. His gaze shifted to Tails, then Knuckles, then Amy, then finally to Sonic. Here they all were… after he had almost slaughtered them all in cold blood, they were here to ensure he would get well. Guilt sunk in again, as he slowly looked over them once more.

He turned back to Cream. She held the same expression as before, looking about ready to cry…

Cream knew even less about wrong than Maria had known. She was one of the millions of innocent children he would have ended up killing… In her innocence, she did not know what he would have done. No one in the room did. But her least of all…

Shadow quickly turned away, leaning against his pillow. He appeared afraid of something, but what, no one knew.

"Shadow…?"

Shadow slowly looked over at Sonic, who seemed even more concerned now. He couldn't even keep eye contact with the great hero for a single second. His gaze fell on the card Cream had given him…

Colorful, waxy scribbles were all over it. She had made the card herself, drawing every picture carefully and writing every word to the best of her ability. Shadow fought his tears. After all he had been about to do, he did not deserve to live. He did not deserve a second chance. He didn't even deserve the card Cream had dedicated to him. He deserved nothing, and he knew it more than he knew anything else.

"Y-you can open it…" Cream piped, trying to be cheerful.

Shadow hesitated.

Tails opened his mouth to speak, after a moment, but he couldn't piece together the right words. He shut his mouth again, heaving a soft sigh. Knuckles mumbled something in annoyance. Glares were shot at him by everyone but Shadow and Cream. "Nevermind it, Shadow… Just take your time…" Amy said kindly.

"Yeah. Knuckles is just jealous that _he_ didn't get a nice card, aren't ya Knux?" Sonic smirked.

"What?! It has nothing to do with that!"

"Sure it doesn't… Well, just wait till you end up in the hospital, and you'll get a card of your own!" The blue hedgehog held back a laugh.

Knuckles growled, wanting to pound Sonic into the ground. He resisted the temptation, however, knowing Cream would not take a fight well, and this certainly wasn't the place for it.

Shadow slowly forced himself to pick the card up, opening it and reading the message inside. His hands shook. He found himself unable to read the card after only a few seconds, instead gazing aimlessly in between the letters. Tears fought to escape his eyes, while he fought to keep them in. He maintained his composure for several seconds, fighting to keep a straight face…

All in vain. When he could no longer hold the guilt inside, he dropped the card on his lap. He tried to physically stop his tears from slipping away by covering his eyes… But he knew it was too late.

His friends could tell he was crying.

Tails walked solemnly closer, leaning over the bed to lay a hand on Shadow's shoulder. Shadow did not seem to notice still trying not to sob and fighting the urge until he completely broke down. Cream bent under Tails, climbing carefully up onto the bed to hug the black and red hedgehog. She cried with him. Sonic wanted to provide some sort of comfort as well, but he didn't want to make Shadow feel uncomfortable with so many people trying to calm him down at once. Amy sat next to Sonic on the bed, looking worried sick.

Knuckles, on the other hand, was beginning to wonder if this was some sort of rehearsed soap opera. _What the heck is he crying about anyway? Are Cream's get-well cards suddenly offensive or something?! He got a freakin' card; he should be happy!_

Shadow, as Sonic had predicted, was extremely uncomfortable with everyone surrounding him. Cream hugging him was only making his discomfort worse, especially since he was not a big fan of hugs in the first place.

The guilt… It wouldn't leave him!

"It's okay, Shadow…" Tails murmured.

"Maybe the painkiller wore off… Shadow, did the painkiller ware off?" Amy asked kindly.

Shadow did not answer.

"It's a lot of pain… if he's not answering, that's probably the problem. We should tell the doctor." Tails sighed.

"Are you kidding? You know, not to be the pessimist, but I don't think that pain killer can ware off that quickly! It's pretty gradual! He would have already been complaining, and it wouldn't have been hurting him so bad! I thought at least you would know that, genius." Knuckles objected, glaring at Tails.

Tails glared back. _He's a lot moodier than normal today… Shadow's crying his heart out, Knuckles can't say anything positive… What next?_ The kit suppressed a groan.

Amy cut in. "I _still_ think we should let the doctor know! _You're_ not a doctor, so you can't be sure that nothing's wrong with him!"

"What, you can't tell that he's bawling like it's the end of the world?! The Shadow _we_ know doesn't do that!"

"Knuckles!" Sonic scolded.

"What are you saying?!" Amy growled.

"There's obviously something wrong with him if he's acting so out of character!"

"I'm sorry…" Shadow whispered, shaking in fear and regret. He removed his hands from his face, hugging himself tightly. Cream looked up at him in confusion, but no one else heard.

"If last night wasn't enough to prove it, I think he's got some serious brain damage doing what he did! How the heck could he be in his right mind bringing it upon himself?!" Knuckles continued on the verge of yelling.

Cream's head snapped in his direction. She was still lightly crying. "Knuckles!" Tails, Sonic, and Amy all scowled. Sonic had about had it.

"W-what is he talking about?" Cream asked in a small, terrified voice.

"Don't worry Cream, it's alright." Amy replied, firmly glaring at the red echidna.

"It's _not_ alright! Aren't you listening to me?! If he's not acting normal, something's wrong!" Knuckles bellowed.

"_I'm sorry…_" Shadow repeated a bit louder. His only fear now was to lose what friends he had…

And he knew he would probably lose them once his apology was understood… But if he didn't apologize, he knew the guilt would continue to consume him until he had nothing left of his sanity…

Again, he hadn't been heard. "Knuckles, _that's enough_! You might be right, but you don't have to act as if when there's something wrong, he can't still be our friend! I wouldn't care if he had an accident where he became _completely_ mentally disabled! I would still try to get along with him, and so would the rest of us! I know you don't get along with him _perfectly_, but we didn't either! The difference between _us_ and _you_ is that we're willing to keep trying to get along with him, and you aren't! Nobody gets along perfectly, so _get over it_! Do you want to help him feel better or _not_?! Right now, you're _not helping_!" Sonic spat.

It was true; there were times where he got along with Knuckles much better than with Shadow, and other times where the opposite was true. However, when it came to picking a side between them both, he had to push all past arguments aside and consider who was being more logical, or more fair. Being that Shadow was severely injured—emotionally and physically—he couldn't help but follow his heroic instincts and take a stand for him. Like Tails, he was also convinced that Knuckles was a bit moodier than usual today. The fact that the echidna seemed to be saying something negative about Shadow every time he had the chance only enforced Sonic's decision to be against Knuckles this time.

"_Fine then_! I'll just shut up and we'll see who's right! It's nothing against Shadow, I just _don't_ think it's normal he's acting this way, do you?!" Knuckles hissed, crossing his arms.

"_S-sorry…_" Once more, Shadow went unheard.

"Stop, stop!" Tails interrupted. "Now's not the time to argue! Knuckles, you should probably take a walk a minute until you calm down…"

"I-I don't want you guys t-to fight… Mister Sonic… Mister Knuckles… Please stop…" Cream stammered, clinging to Shadow more tightly and causing him pain.

Amy sighed in annoyance. "See? You scared her…"

"He didn't mean it, Cream." Sonic kindly spoke.

"It's not like she's never seen me mad before—"

"_**I'm sorry!**_" The black hedgehog practically screamed, alarming everyone within hearing range. "Sorry, sorry, _sorry, sorry, __**sorry**_!"

His uncontrollable guilt had led him to this outburst. Finally, everyone had heard him… Finally, it was time to tell them…

The truth.


	4. Breaking Bonds

"Sh-shadow…?" Sonic felt even more worried now then ever as he watched the black hedgehog cry. Cream had been frightened as he had begun to yell, and hid herself behind Tails. Everyone was uneasy, now.

"J-just… go away!"

"Mr. Shadow… wh… what's the matter?"

The black and red hedgehog was suddenly unsure whether or not he really did want to tell the truth… Maybe not yet… Maybe later… He wanted to be left alone… "Leave me a-alone! Go away…! Go away!"

Cream began to cry. Sonic knew something had to be done now. "…Guys, let me talk to Shadow alone."

"W-what?" Shadow whispered.

"But Sonic--!" Amy protested.

"Everyone, to the waiting room! Go! I need to sort something out with him!" Sonic growled stubbornly. Cream nodded, trying not to cry anymore. Tails nodded to Sonic with respect, leaving the room immediately. Cream followed him. Knuckles huffed stubbornly, hiding the fact that he really was worried about Shadow, and left the room next. Amy put her hands on her hips, looking at Sonic expectantly. "Amy…" Sonic glared at her, using the warning tone of his voice.

"Why can't I help, too?!"

"Because! First of all, you're a girl! A lot of guys prefer to talk to guys about this sort of stuff! Secondly, because it needs to be a one-on-one thing. If he decides to talk, he'll probably only want to talk to one person, otherwise forget it!"

Amy crossed her arms, pouting. Shadow shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore the pain he was caused through movement.

"Out." Sonic said firmly.

"Sonic the hedgehog! You're so unfair!" With a frustrated sigh, she left the room whining to herself in her head about how Sonic would never let her do anything if he could help it. Sonic, on the other hand, only rolled his eyes and shut the door after her. He turned to his friend.

Shadow immediately broke eye contact.

"…Come on, bud… What's the matter? You know you can tell me… If for some reason… I'm not good enough… tell me who is! I'll go get them, and you can talk to just them instead!"

The Ultimate Lifeform fought not to tremble. "Sonic… I-I… I didn't w-want to live…"

Sonic had known this easily, but it still shocked him and tore at his heart to hear Shadow say it. "W-wh… but… Why?! Why would you want to die, Shadow? You only have one life to live, just like everyone else… W-why would you give it up? What's so bad?!" Disbelief and depression gripped at his throat, trying to evoke his tears. The hero felt like he couldn't move.

Shadow only gazed at the sheets laid over his lap, unsure of what to say. "…I… It's m-me… I'm the problem! I'm a huge problem! I'm a weapon of mass destruction, Sonic! That's something you'll never have to be, and never will be! I'm dangerous! I know how to be dangerous! I could break the world right now if I wanted to, even like _this_!" His expression turned almost angry. Fear, frustration, and pain broke out into an obvious state as he gestured to his scars. "I-I'm not like you! I'm not like anyone! No one is safe around me, and I can't be around anyone because of that! At least while I'm dead I can't be a burden!"

Sonic gaped. "B-burden?! Who ever said anything even _remotely_ related … or… implying that you were a burden?! You're _not_ a problem, Shadow! We_ love_ you! You're so important to us! Don't you know that it would have killed me to have to go to your funeral?! That's more of a problem than you being alive is! You're like my _brother_! You're not a problem _at all_!" The blue hedgehog got closer to his old rival, pulling him into a gentle hug, which would have made Shadow uncomfortable if he hadn't already been. "Come on, man… you know I don't like to see anyone cry… Put a smile on! You've got friends, and we're here for you, and you've still got a place to live… What's so bad? Just think about it, you've got a _great_ life! If anything's gone wrong, I bet you could start over somewhere…"

The black and red hedgehog shook. "S-sonic… I…" Suddenly, his thoughts took a rapid turn. Sonic was the only one in the room. Cream, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles had been there earlier, but…

"_Sh-shadow…!" The white bat practically choked on her tears, trying to keep pressure on all of his wounds. She held him tightly. "W-why did you do that?! W-why?! I told you I c-care about y-you…! I-I don't want you t-to die! P-please…" _

_Shadow didn't answer. He couldn't answer. He felt like he was drifting in and out of consciousness. He couldn't hear half of what Rouge was saying. His focus only lasted for short bursts of time before he completely lost it again. He wasn't sure what he was doing at all during these times. He had a feeling that sometime he had moved… He tried not to hurt her. He didn't want that anymore. He wanted her safe…_

"_I s-said I'd always b-be by y-you… R-remember that?! I-I can't honor it when you h-hurt yourself l-like this! I c-c-can't! Even if it's the o-only thing you w-want anym-more! …Y-you're a-all I have! I-I made that promise because…"_

He couldn't remember anything else she had said. It completely slipped his mind, and so did anything else that happened afterward.

…He hadn't hurt her… had he? Had his insanity gotten the best of him? Had he somehow managed to slaughter her in his half-conscious, bloody, injured state?

It was the last thing in the world he wanted to believe.

He'd die a thousand horrid, painful deaths just to ensure she never had even one. But he knew that life didn't work that way. He pulled away from Sonic, ignoring the pain, and looked at him in worry… Sonic had to know… "Where's Rouge?!"

The blue hero blinked. "R-rouge?"

"S-sonic…! Please, where is she?! Is she okay? Have you seen her?! _Please_ Sonic, if anything's happened to her I swear I won't be able to live with myself!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! _Slow down_, there! What does Rouge have to do with anything? I thought we were talking about an _entirely_ different subject!"

Shadow was gripping the sheets. "P-please, Sonic!"

"Okay, okay, calm down! Rouge is fine! The nurse told us she came here with you. She wanted to stay with you, but they feared she was too sick and her sickness might have a fatal effect on you because of your injuries! They sent her home…!"

Shadow seemed a bit relieved, but still extremely tense. "I… I can't believe… I-I…"

"…What?"

Shadow sighed softly, emotional pain rising within him. "…I-I was going to kill you all… I… wasn't thinking s-straight, and I-I changed my mind…"

Sonic could only stare in complete shock.

The Ultimate Lifeform began to sob relentlessly again. "I-I was going to k-kill her f-first… But t-then I didn't w-want to…! And… I realized, my whole p-plan… was not justified! It was unjustified, immoral, i-insane! I knew I w-wasn't th-thinking clearly… I-I-I didn't want to hurt anyone! I-I wanted them safe, s-so I didn't want to l-live anymore…! I-If I'm having these t-thoughts, a-and almost c-carrying them out, Sonic, w-what else should I-I do?! The thoughts could come b-back, and t-take control of me, a-and then I'd have th-thousands upon thousands u-upon thousands of deaths on my hands! I could b-break the entire world and kill every l-living thing on it like that! And th-then what?! I d-don't want that to happen, Sonic! W-what else w-was I supposed to do?!"

Reality was sinking in. The blue hedgehog stood up from the bed. "…You… were going to d-destroy the world… try it again?"

"Y-yes, Sonic… I-I'm so s-sorry…"

Sonic swallowed hard, looking up at the ceiling. "… I-I think I understand… W-what you did… It's… just fine then! Just fine! …I love you, bro, but… I can't help you! I d-don't think I can help you at all! You're on your own… Whatever you decide… If you try again… I-I'll come to your funeral… I just… I don't know how to deal with this…!" A few tears slipped out of the 16-year-old's eyes as he took a few steps backwards, heading towards the door. Shadow couldn't even watch him leave.

Sonic walked into the waiting room. Each of his friends looked up.

"I-Is he feeling better?" Cream asked nervously.

Sonic gazed at the ground, wiping some tears out of his eyes.

"W-what did he say, Sonic? It didn't go well?" Tails couldn't understand it… Just suddenly, Shadow had attempted suicide. Just suddenly, he had started crying in the room… Just suddenly, Sonic couldn't get through to him.

No one, not even Sonic could do it.

But why?

"I-I'll tell you all on the way back home… let's get going." He started to walk over to the hospital doors.

"Wait, we're just leaving Shadow… without a goodbye?" Amy couldn't hide her confusion and surprise.

"That's it. Let's get moving." Sonic's tone was not cheerful… Not as it had always seemed to be. It was cracked, and low, tainted with grief.

_I was right… I … wish I wasn't._ Knuckles thought. _I don't even know why this was so upsetting to me… but… Shadow is a good guy… or can be… Poor Sonic… Whatever happened in there must have hurt him pretty bad for him to cry._

Reluctantly, everyone stood up and filed out the door, depressed and worried.

The door shut, and Shadow was all alone with his broken heart…

Alone and, for once, lonely.


	5. Recovery

***

The doctor's car was on its way to Rouge's house. Shadow had been offered the ride, since he had no other way of getting home, and Shadow had accepted such an offer with gratitude. On the way, the doctor insisted several times that the black hedgehog attend counseling sessions…

That _wasn't_ going to happen.

Still, as many times as he claimed he did not want to be counseled, the doctor tried to point out all the benefits and change his mind. Needless to say, when the car ride was over, Shadow was even more thankful than before…

"Thanks for the ride…" He managed, opening the door and painfully slipping out of the car.

"You're quite welcome, sir. Oh, and Mr. Kastelo is a wonderful councilor! I really do recommend him… if you change your mind, just look him up." The doctor piped, smiling.

"Sure, whatever you say…" Shadow shut the car door. His wrists were entirely opposed to the action and scolded him for it. Still, he did not show any signs of pain.

"See you soon!" The doctor pushed the gas, and the car drove off. Shadow watched it leave, then turned to Rouge's house…

This was _not _going to be easy at all.

It was bad enough that Rouge was ill… But now he had given her reason to break her trust in him, and he still felt like he had blood on his hands… Telling her the truth would not be easy. It would be even harder than when he told Sonic.

If only there was some way for him to make it up to them all…

_But there isn't… They'll never trust me again… _

_I just hope Rouge will understand. I don't want to loose her like I lost the others…_

Shadow heaved a heavy sigh, beginning to make his way towards the house. He had been forced to stay at the hospital for two days. They would have made him stay even longer, had he not been so insistent on going home. Rouge was sick. She shouldn't be left by herself for long…

Everything hurt. It was agony trying to move about, but something inside him was tugging at him. He couldn't keep his best friend deceived… She had to know the truth, and he had to tell her as soon as possible…

And he had to take care of her until she was well. Even if she hated him.

Why did he have to be so foolish before? He wanted it all to end now… all because of one wrong decision; the decision to hate. The desire to kill. The want, or even sickening need to see destruction condemn an innocent world.

Now because of this, he had to pay the price.

His guilt would never cease. His wrists, his knee, and his chest were scarred. But more over, something stabbed into his heart whenever he told the truth, and whenever he thought about what he had done. It was guilt, and it did not scar him. It only stabbed him, opening and reopening the wound in his heart and forcing it to continue to bleed.

He was only halfway up the path, having difficulty through all the pain. His thoughts were slowing him down… He struggled to force all his thoughts aside for the moment and focus on the issue one step at a time. The seconds seemed like minutes as he finally reached the door, not even bothering to knock or ring the doorbell. He simply opened the door, peered inside nervously, and slipped in.

The house was silent.

"Rouge…?" Shadow called, fighting to keep fear from altering his tone.

For a few seconds more, silence resumed. Then, the black hedgehog heard footsteps coming from upstairs. "Shadow?" He looked up just in time to see Rouge looking down from the first floor. Silence between both of them was exchanged for only a second.

The white bat's surprised expression switched to one of relief and happiness. "You're back!" She immediately bolted down the staircase, reaching him in only a few seconds and pulling him into a loving embrace.

Shadow had never been so upset to see her happy in his life. Though she was causing him pain both physically and emotionally, it was really for her own sake he wished her to be upset. Because she was happy, the truth would hurt her even more… He couldn't find any words to say, and he didn't return her embrace. He only stood there as guilt continued to murder him.

"I was so worried!" The bat began to cry, and then cough a bit, although she did try not to cough on him. "I wanted to stay, but they w-wouldn't let me… I-I… I was scared you would die… And I don't want you to die! I l-love you, Shadow, I d-don't want you to leave me! So don't ever think n-no one cares about you, you hear?"

Shadow froze.

"_I s-said I'd always b-be by y-you… R-remember that?! I-I can't honor it when you h-hurt yourself l-like this! I c-c-can't! Even if it's the o-only thing you w-want anym-more! …Y-you're a-all I have! I-I made that promise because… I-I love you! I love you s-so m-much…! If I were o-only allowed to have one f-friend in the w-world, or one p-person I trusted, I-I would pick you! Please, Sh-shadow! I'm begging you n-not to l-leave…!"_

"…Shadow?"

Rouge was looking at him. Lost in his own thoughts, he hadn't even felt her release him. He struggled to say something to her, but no words would leave his lips…

Instead, he just broke down again. He fought not to cry, practically denying himself air just to hold back the sobs. He managed to make no noise, but he could not keep the tears from falling.

"Shadow, what's wrong?" The white bat had never really seen him cry. She managed to contain her shock, but could not contain her concern.

Shadow didn't even know what to do. He was so focused on trying not to sob, and so burdened by guilt he could hardly stay standing; he could hardly think. He wanted to embrace her again, to allow himself to cry, to tell her that he cared about her and break the truth to her gently… But he couldn't even bring himself to touch her. He couldn't even force himself to tell her he still cared about her, even after everything that had happened. After several seconds had passed, all he could manage to say was, "_I-I'm s-sorry…_"

"Sorry for what?" Rouge coughed, clearly confused. After almost a minute of complete silence, she was about to comfort him when he spoke again.

"I-I tried to k-kill you…"

She stopped dead in her tracks.

***

"_I'm sorry_!" Shadow cried, not knowing at all how he could possibly convince her. The more he tried to explain, however, the less she seemed to be convinced.

"_I trusted you_!" Rouge yelled back, tears falling freely from her eyes. She turned to run away, but Shadow grabbed at her wrist, ignoring the pain in his own. She managed to yank her hand back and distance herself from him even further. "G-get out of here, Shadow! Get out, and _d-don't come b-back_! You _obviously_ don't w-want to be here a-anyway!" She was choking on her own sobs, and crying hard, but it was not enough to keep her from running away. She did, flying up the stairs, and almost tripping at the top. From there, she ran straight to her room and slammed the door behind her.

Shadow could only stand there, feeling lost and alone. He didn't want to leave… he knew he couldn't stay if she didn't want him there, though. He would have to leave as soon as she was well again…

For now, he would take care of her, whether she liked it or not.

***

The door cracked open, then opened wider. The white bat was too tired and upset to even notice. She only continued to lie on her bed and try not to cry. She could hear Shadow coming up behind her. Was he going to try to apologize again, or try to kill her again? Rouge almost couldn't care either way. She just kept still and waited.

He set something down on her nightstand, then walked closer to her. She kept still…

The black hedgehog set his hand against her forehead for a few seconds, then withdrew it. "You have a fever…"

"I know." She snapped, still not moving otherwise.

There was a pause. "Are you hungry?"

"No." She wished he would just go away… She still loved him, but she couldn't see how or why it would be a good idea to let him stay with her. _Something_ she had done must have upset him enough for him to want to kill her, and who was to say that it wouldn't happen again? Sure, at least he was honest, but nothing was going to stop him if he wanted to kill her again…

"Oh… Well… if you change your mind, I made you some soup… It's right here…" He tapped on the nightstand, then began to walk away. "Hope you feel better…"

"Yeah, yeah…" Rouge muttered bitterly. She felt awful; emotionally and physically.

Shadow somberly trudged back downstairs. He'd never felt so alone in his life… which was saying a lot, considering all he had been though. He refrained from sighing as he got a bowl from the cupboard and filled it with some soup for himself. He started to walk to the table so he could sit down and think…

Pain suddenly surged from the wound in his knee without warning. He lost his balance and fell, the hot soup splashing all over him. He writhed in pain as it burned, holding in a scream. For several seconds, he could do nothing but try to get over the pain until it finally eased. Even so, he was trembling as he staggered back up.

_Klutz._

He limped over to where the paper towels were kept, only to find that when he turned around, there was also blood on the floor. He looked down at his knee immediately. The wound had opened back up.

With a curse, he went looking for the first aid kit, patching his knee back up the best he could once it was found. The floor was still a mess everywhere he had walked. He wiped up the mess and scrubbed floor until all the blood was gone, not even complaining to himself. He was very hungry. However, he did not get another bowl of soup. He'd let Rouge have the rest in case she wanted it, and would just deal with his hunger.

After a few minutes, Shadow went back upstairs to see how Rouge was doing. She hadn't moved.

"Are you sure you're not hungry _at all_?" Shadow asked with concern.

The white bat only snuggled closer to the bed sheets as a response. Shadow sighed wearily, walking into the room. "It's mostly broth. It won't ease hunger much, but you need something in your system to help your body function properly and fight off your fever."

"Like you care, Shadow."

Another sigh. "I _do_ care." Shadow said firmly, trying not to let his feelings get in the way this time. "Do you think I would make you soup if I didn't care? Do you think I would even apologize to you or cry when you wouldn't forgive me?"

Rouge was silent.

Shadow walked back over to the bed, shoving Rouge gently forward. Rouge didn't have a clue what he was doing, and freaked out for a few seconds. He moved her just far enough over so that he could sit on the bed. "I'm staying _right here_ until you decide to eat something." He said stubbornly.

"…Fine." She mumbled, then coughed a bit.

"Fine." Shadow said, dragging her toward himself and having her sit on his lap. Rouge was a bit uncomfortable now.

The white bat narrowed her eyes at him. "And just _what_ are you doing?"

"I told you, I'm staying right here until you eat something." Shadow smirked.

"…Sure, but I'm _not_." She tried to crawl out of Shadow's grasp, but he held her firmly. She struggled. Shadow felt nothing but pain, but held on. "You stubborn…!" She couldn't help but cough violently after putting such effort into trying to escape.

"Eat your soup, and I'll leave you alone."

She growled. "…You better _not_ have poisoned it!"

Shadow said nothing, masking his pain and hurt feelings with a blank look. He let go of her, reached over to the nightstand, and picked up the bowl of soup. He handed it to her. She didn't eat it. Her hands were shaking quite a bit.

"I'm waiting…" The black hedgehog stared at her.

Rouge looked embarrassed. "…I can't…"

"Why?"

"I haven't really eaten since you cut yourself…" She said in a small voice.

Shadow blinked. "You'll starve if you don't eat something soon, then."

"I know… But… I get too shaky and I spill everything! I can't hold the spoon even…"

"I'll hold you still…"

Rouge looked distrustful a moment, then slowly nodded, clearing her throat. Shadow kept her as steady as he could manage while she ate her soup. Once she finally finished, Shadow started to take her off of him so he could get up.

"Sh-shadow…?"

The black hedgehog turned to look at his friend. She hugged him tightly. "I f-forgive you… I-I want you to stay… Please…?"

Shadow couldn't refrain himself from a smile. He didn't want to. He slowly wrapped his arms around his best friend and gently returned her embrace… "I will… And I love you too, Rouge…"

The Ultimate Life Form could have cried tears of happiness now that he and Rouge were friends once again.


	6. Malicious Reflection

***

Evening came. Shadow and Rouge had spent the entire time talking, avoiding talk of anything related to the events of the past few days. Shadow was in agony from hunger and physical pain for most of the time, but he forced a smile. He was happy to be with her…

He was also extremely tired. Everything that had happened as of late had an effect on him that made him want to fall asleep. He did not doubt that it was exhaustion from physical injury and emotional drama. All the same, he would deny himself rest until Rouge herself was tired of talking with him and wanted to go to bed. He didn't want to develop a bad habit by becoming nocturnal. Especially if GUN called him in for a ton of day missions when his injuries were healed.

They had tried to call him into work earlier today. He had had a lot of difficulty explaining the situation without telling them his injuries were the result of a suicide attempt, which was the result of guilt and self-hate for plotting to destroy the world…

He couldn't tell GUN that. Though he had told his friends, GUN couldn't know. Among the consequences would be losing his job and being put in a mental institution. Worse, they might turn him back into an experiment or kill him off because they feared the combination of his power and his insanity…

He did not fear death. That he might lose his job and his life was not what concerned him… Being an experiment again was what he feared. He would not be treated kindly. He would not be treated with an ounce of compassion, held in the hands of the merciless. In short, he would be subjected to torture.

The bat and the hedgehog had moved downstairs to converse. Rouge sat at the table with a blanket wrapped tightly around her, trying to eat more soup without the help of her friend. Shadow sat on the other side, trying to ignore his hunger and the pain his wounds were causing him. They had talked for hours…

"Shadow?" Rouge asked suddenly after a small period of silence.

Shadow restrained himself from yawning. "Yes, Rouge?"

"I don't want to stay in the house all the time… I miss going outside."

The black and red hedgehog wasn't sure what to say to this. "…There's a higher risk that your illness will worsen out there, though… You wouldn't want to be sick for longer than you have to be."

"I know… But a few minutes wouldn't… hurt me too much, right?"

A sigh. "I suppose not… I'll go with you, but you probably don't want to walk all over town wearing a nightgown." The hedgehog let a small, playful smile curve upon his lips.

Rouge blushed with embarrassment, forgetting that she wasn't dressed to be outside. She did not return the smile, simply getting up and heading up to her bedroom without looking at her friend. She did not speak again until she was already halfway up the staircase. "I'll be back down in a minute… once I change into proper clothes."

Shadow heard the Bat's bedroom door close, then patiently began to wait…

***

She cleared her throat. It probably wasn't a good idea to be going outside… but her longing for fresh air was so strong, she would have probably ended up bribing Shadow to let her step outside. She walked over to her dresser, opening it.

A breeze suddenly rushed by her. Startled, she turned to see that the window was open wide. It was the sort of window that needs to be latched shut, and can swing open if left unlocked. _I don't remember opening the window today… I'm pretty sure that the last time I was in here, the window was shut…_ She rushed over to the window, peering out of it. The sun was going down outside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but all the same, she couldn't help but think that all seemed to be unusually quiet. _I must have opened it, though… There was a lot of wind yesterday, and it would have blown open if I had left it unlocked._

The air was blowing straight through her nightgown. She shivered. It would be best to put on warm clothes. After only a few seconds more of staring out the window into her front yard, she step-sided and swung the window shut, latching it so that it was locked. She turned back to her dresser.

She found herself face to face with Shadow the hedgehog. She nearly jumped backwards. "Sh-shadow? What are you doing in m-my room? When did you…" She trailed off, noticing that the door was still shut. Something wasn't right. Shadow never walked into her room and shut the door behind him…

The black and red hedgehog laughed; quietly, but maliciously. Now Rouge noticed more. Shadow was not wearing bandages. He didn't even seem to have any wounds.

Something was wrong. The white bat took several steps back. 'Shadow' only took a few steps closer, bringing a red-handled knife out from behind his back. Rouge kept backing away. Sneering, the hedgehog mocked the very words he had said to her earlier that day.

"_I'll hold you still… I love you too, Rouge…_" Rouge gasped, horror-stricken. The knife was pointed directly at her. The fact that this was her friend was the last thing in the world she would want to believe right now. Her heart was pounding… after all that talking, would he really slaughter her like this?

But how could this be Shadow? Shadow was only mortal now, and his wounds would have not been able to heal so quickly in such a state… Yet, they had been alone all day… She backed up into the wall behind her. There was nowhere left to go.

She didn't know what to believe.

But she knew what she would refuse to believe; this was not Shadow. This was a fake.

"Do exactly as I say, and maybe I'll decide not to kill you." The hedgehog's sadistic grin delivered her heart right into the hands of Fear. For a few seconds, she was doing all she could to mask her fear, though backing away from this stranger had probably told enough. As she got a grip on her composure, something else placed its grip on her, forcing fear to let go. It was either logic or madness, and she had no way of telling which.

She was Rouge the Bat, government spy and ex-treasure hunter; as sly as a fox and as skilled as any government agent could possibly be! She knew martial arts. She knew how to disarm her enemies by hand. Knife or no knife, she could take a man—or hedgehog—down. Her gaze hardened as she kicked the stranger in the gut.

Unfortunately, there were just a few details she had overlooked: First, she was not wearing her boots, so the kick did not have as great of an effect as it could have. Secondly, she was ill, and had not been kicking-butt for a few weeks. It is not to say that she wimpy at this point in time. In fact, she was still rather strong; but the sickness and lack of exercise had still taken its toll on her. She was not quite as strong as she usually was. Lastly, the stranger looked like Shadow…

She had clearly overlooked the fact that he could probably _fight_ like Shadow.

Up against Shadow, she was no match.

'Shadow' quickly recovered, grabbing her and holding her to where she couldn't well struggle. He held the knife to her neck. "Like I said, do exactly as I say…" He shoved her hard to the other side of the room, causing her to crash into her dresser.

***

Something wasn't quite right… He couldn't quite place it, but something about the house was _abnormal_, now. Not much time had passed since he had last heard Rouge speak, yet he began to feel as if 'not long' had been 'too long'.

The sound of something slamming into wood could be heard from where he sat at the table. His neck snapped in the direction that Rouge had gone only moments ago.

Yes, it had been too long…

He did not hesitate. He quickly got up from the chair in which he sat, and walked over to the staircase. Why he didn't run, even he wasn't sure of. His care for Rouge pushed him forward, while some unknown force tried to slow him down and hold him back. He was cautious as he finished climbing the staircase and made his way toward Rouge's room. The force was so strong, that once he reached the door, he almost felt he couldn't reach for the doorknob and turn it…

Dread suddenly stopped him. He listened carefully for a few seconds. He could hear nothing. Not breathing, not footsteps, not even the sound of Rouge's clothes being put on or her nightdress being put away.

He wanted to just open the door, but he always knocked. Rouge's room was her personal space; opening the door when there was the possibility that she was still changing was a _very_ bad idea. A disrespectful one, at that. He kept to his custom and knocked.

A small gasp, either startled, pained, or horrified, was what Shadow heard after he knocked. After this, nothing more.

Shadow became very afraid; someone was in that room, yet they weren't answering him. This could mean several things, but every single one of them was negative. The hedgehog knew he had no choice. Rouge was obviously either hurt or about to be hurt, and he had to help her. He grabbed the doorknob, twisting it, and flinging the door wide open…

Only to fall into shock.

Standing over Rouge with a red-handled dagger and staring back at him was _himself_. If he were to move the knife so much as an inch closer, he would slit her throat. Clearly, the other 'Shadow' was not him. Clearly, he was a clone. But what would a copy want with Rouge? The copy didn't know her like he did, and thus, should have no reason to be angry with her or single her out to murder.

All the same, he was there; unwelcome and uninvited.

"You're just in time…" The replica sneered.

Shadow knew he had to do something quick. He didn't have a Chaos Emerald. Under pressure, he could only think to do one thing; grab at all the surrounding Chaos energy he could. "Chaos Control!" Time came to a halt. Shadow bolted across the room, tearing the dagger from the clone's grasp. A knife wouldn't necessarily give him the upper hand, he knew. The clone might have some other weapon on his person that he might try to use either against him or against Rouge…

Killing the trespasser now was out of the question. After recent events, Shadow didn't want to kill anyone… Not even this vile copy. He would do what he had to, but not so quickly. Not so mercilessly. There would be a fight before any killing was done.

And if persuasion couldn't be used to pacify the clone, one of them would die tonight.


	7. A Fight Begins, As Does A Lie

Time was about to start again. Shadow gritted his teeth, knowing Rouge would hate it if the Ultimate Life Form and his psychopathic replica were to engage in battle in her house… He quickly dragged the clone out of Rouge's room, down the stairs, and out the door. Dropping him on the ground, he held the dagger defensively.

Hopefully, persuasion would be an option…

Hopefully, this was a misunderstanding of some sort…

Not likely. Time started again, and the clone immediately rocketed towards Shadow, either trying to snatch the dagger back or simply attack. The original black and red hedgehog dodged him, staying completely faced toward the enemy and tightly gripping the knife.

The clone spoke, seething with anger. "What are you trying to pull, you hedgehog of worthlessness?!"

"Pull? You're the one who pushed! What were you doing in Rouge's bedroom with this?" Shadow motioned to the knife with his other hand, deciding not to address the other hedgehog's insult.

Rouge looked out the window, seeing two Shadows standing on the street. _I knew it wasn't him!_ Part of her rejoiced, relived. Another part of her was much less enthusiastic. Two hedgehogs, one knife, and opposing views did not mix well… There would be a fight. She rushed out of her room.

When no response came, Shadow nearly growled. "You _leave her alone_."

"Why should I?" Asked the imitation. "And why would you protect something which will only turn on you later?"

"She's my best friend; all that I have! She's everything to me!" All at once, they both rushed forward, kicking, blocking, punching, and dodging. Rouge came outside. She encaged her fear as she watched in silence.

Shadow was still exhausted and weak from his recent injuries. This gave the opponent a great advantage. All the same, he had not wanted to use his opponent's knife to keep the fight "fair"; however, it was only three seconds before the clone tried to retrieve his knife from his already-wounded rival. Shadow, of course, tried to jerk the knife away and out of the copy's reach, but it was too late to keep the weapon completely from his hand. The clone grabbed at the blade with his hand, which tore through his hand (the right) as Shadow jerked back. The other hedgehog suddenly dropped to the ground, hissing. Both of them, as well as Rouge, stared as blood began to spill.

"You'll pay for that!" He growled loudly. He threw himself at Shadow, knocking him to the ground and prying the dagger from his hand. Shadow fought to hold onto it, but his wrist was highly opposed to the situation. It shrieked mercilessly in agony. Shadow did all he could not to let that pain be made noticeable and ignore it, but it was not enough. Eventually, the dagger was snatched away from him, and he knew he was in trouble.

A lot of trouble.

"Say goodbye…" The clone was already on top of Shadow. Dodging was not an option. In order to avoid being stabbed somewhere fatal, he would need to make a complete escape…

And that would not be easy. Especially not in his condition. The copy brought the knife down. Shadow had no time to think. He moved as far to the right as quickly as he could. The dagger missed its target, only slicing the side of his arm. The copy hardly had time to realize that he had missed before Shadow made a labored effort to jerk his body out from under the clone's and kick him hard in the gut. In the process, the injury to his knee opened up once again, leaving Shadow with two bleeding wounds.

But he was alive, and neither injury was fatal.

The copy did not get up off the ground. Shadow stared at him, an adrenaline rush coursing through his veins. He slowly got off the ground, feeling he had come close enough to death, and he didn't want to get that close again… Even if his death was better for everyone else, he had a healthy fear of it in these situations.

He waited for the clone to move, but he did not. Shadow became strangely alert as he realized that there was hardly a probability that he was already dead…

If there was a probability at all, it was close to zero.

Rouge watched, quiet as a mouse. She dared not step out the door…

Shadow slowly made his way toward the imitation. The closer he got, the more sure he became that the other hedgehog was not moving at all. Was he even breathing? Was he still alive, or just unconscious?

He slowly bent down, reaching his hand out to feel for a pulse…

The clone very carefully, very slowly laid a firm grasp to his weapon.

"Shadow, _look out_!" Rouge cried out as he tried to stab her friend's side. Almost immediately, she almost wished she had shut up. _Almost_.

Shadow rolled out of the way just in time, but now the copy had set his sights on a new target: Rouge. Abruptly, he launched himself at her holding his knife ready to strike.

A single stab would kill her. The clone's ability seemed to perfectly match Shadow's own; he had enough confidence that he could destroy almost any target presented to him. His aim was nearly perfect much of the time. If the clone had the same ability…

The ultimate life form processed this information in less than a second as he sprung forward to protect his friend. In the process, he made the clone his own target, pushing himself forward at full speed.

He had to be stopped.

Rouge saw the copy coming towards her, and immediately reacted by trying to shut the door. In a split second, the situation once again, changed. A small rift of chaos appeared out of somewhere unknown. The imitation tripped. Shadow knocked into him. Rouge wasn't fast enough to completely shut the door. The knife flew forward…

Both hedgehogs crashed to the ground, rolling over each other. Both suffered what _they_ might consider 'minor injuries'. The cement had torn through the fur and flesh of both of them in several places. Shadow had hit his head rather hard. The clone suffered a similar injury in nearly the same spot. The knife hit the wooden door with a loud sound, sticking into it. Rouge opened the door a bit more again, having been startled by the noise and wanting to see if Shadow was alright.

The clone overcame his pain quicker. He pounced on Shadow, pinning him down and pressing his knee into his gut. Shadow gasped, suddenly unusually aware of how easily he could die from a stomach injury. If only the clone pressed hard enough, he would die slowly and painfully. "Aww, what's wrong? Does that hurt?" The clone snickered. Shadow tried desperately to struggle, but stopped suddenly as the pressure on his stomach increased and pain to jolt through his gut. The clone moved his hands to Shadow's throat beginning to suffocate him. The pressure had made it hard for him to breathe in the first place, but now he couldn't breathe at all. He tried to pry the copy's hands off his throat, but his wrists, yet again, made this hard. "Allow me to put you to eternal rest, then…" The clone laughed.

_Fight him, Shadow! _The voice suddenly commanded. _Fight or your efforts will be made worthless and you'll meet death!_

Had the situation been different, Shadow might have pondered over the fact that the same voice that had a tendency to get him into trouble also had a tendency to get him out of it during life-or-death situations.

The voice was always a mystery; he would be on your side one moment, backstab you the next, and then sometimes, even refuse to take a side. What was most peculiar about him was that sometimes he would take his own side and make things extremely difficult on both sides of the fight. He never seemed to have the same motive for his doings. He never seemed to have a motive at all, actually.

Shadow had always wondered about this, but whenever he asked, the voice would always tell him the same thing:

_Go throw yourself off a cliff._

Of course, Shadow never did this. And the fact that he never got an answer always agitated him to no end. All the same, when the voice offered advice—helpful advice—the Ultimate Life Form was thankful for it. He usually listened, and because of that, would live to see another day. When he didn't listen, he usually found himself in even more trouble… The few times he hadn't listened had been enough to teach him a lesson; to always be thankful for when the voice decides to be 'charitable'. Of course, there was sometimes hidden malice in the voice's 'words of wisdom'. For this reason, Shadow always had to be careful when deciding whether or not to listen.

After the last thing the voice had tried to get him to do, he didn't want to listen to him ever again…

But this time, he had a valid point. If Shadow didn't struggle, he would suffocate to death, and Rouge would be left defenseless. Even if enough pressure was put on his stomach to kill him, he should be able to survive long enough to finish the fight…

So he struggled. He wriggled and writhed in the clone's grasp as hard as he could. The copy only seemed to be amused.

It wouldn't be enough.

Rouge watched in horror. Shadow was losing…

The Ultimate Life Form was going to die…

Anger suddenly flared up inside of her. She couldn't let her best friend die. He was fighting for her, but couldn't she fight for him too? She knew she was no match for the clone, but… A distraction would be just enough for Shadow to get out from under the clone. Maybe it would be just enough for Shadow to end the fight…

She yanked the dagger out of the door. She almost felt as if she wasn't wearing anything as she stepped out from behind the entry way in her nightdress. The night air was chilled, for the sun had just gone down. The streetlights would turn on at any moment.

She certainly would not like to be seen outside her home in her nightdress. For a split second, she reconsidered her actions. At the same time, Shadow was being murdered in front of her. She couldn't handle that. She thrust herself forward, firmly gripped the knife at her side. She tucked her wings tightly behind her to increase speed as she dashed, charging through the wind.

Just as she predicted, the distraction worked well. Before she even got there, the clone heard her coming, letting go of Shadow's throat a bit. No pressure was released from his stomach, but it was enough. Once again, the original used a great amount of his strength and threw the clone off of himself. Rouge stopped near Shadow.

The clone rolled, quickly and effortlessly getting back to his feet. "Three against one, is it?"

_Ask him if he knows how to count!_

Shadow gritted his teeth together, still trying to catch his breath. Arousing anger from the clone would give him more of a reason to want to kill. He definitely wouldn't want to do that…

"It's _two_ against one, genius!" Rouge glared. Shadow sweatdropped.

_I didn't tell her to say that. _The voice said innocently. Shadow ignored this, much more worried about the consequence of her words than what possessed her to open her mouth.

The copy turned to her, eyes locked on her. Rouge nearly flinched. _I probably shouldn't have said that._ She thought nervously.

The clone angrily lunged at her. Shadow interfered, knocking them both to the ground. The clone tried to pin Shadow again, but Shadow dealt him a roundhouse kick. Rouge came up from behind the clone while he was still down. She was aiming to stab his neck, but she missed, scarring his left shoulder. The imitation hissed, regaining control of the sharp weapon simply by snatching it away.

At this point, Rouge knew the smart thing to do would be to run. However, Shadow was slowly becoming just as defenseless as she was. There was no way she would leave him. Not unless he begged her and gave he a good reason. She gave the clone a hard slap in the face, then continued to keep hitting him.

Meanwhile, the whole incident somehow went unnoticed by every soul around. Many of the neighbors were on vacation, away from home. The few that weren't, however, didn't seem to want to have anything to do with the matter. They paid no attention to the noise outside, they didn't come out of their homes, and they didn't contact the police…

After being hit across the face five times, the clone was no longer stunned. He reeled back the dagger, ready to pierce her, but Shadow was already behind him and held his hand back. They thrashed about over control of the knife until Shadow finally managed to obtain it from his enemy's hand. He placed himself in front of Rouge protectively and stood his ground. The clone began to come forward.

"_**Stop.**_"

"I halt for_ no one_." The copy growled.

"I want answers!" Shadow snapped. "What do you want with Rouge?!"

The clone continued to advance. "I want her dead." Rouge couldn't help but shudder. Unfortunately, the clone saw this. "I want to feel her sweet fragile soul shatter. Cause her pain. Hear her scream…" He chuckled maliciously.

"Her fear would be my joy."

Shadow didn't like where this was going one bit. He became even more tense. "…You're a sadist!"

"Of course." The other hedgehog purred, finally stopping a few feet away. "But sometimes, I have a little fun before I get to the torture."

Hearing this, Rouge hid herself behind Shadow even more, sickened and even more scared. Shadow tried to keep calm so he could make his decisions rational, but this new information almost completely wore out what little patience he had left. "Why _you…_!"

_So he's one of__** those**__…_ Even the voice sounded rather displeased. In fact, he sounded disgusted.

"_Me_? Oh, I'm sorry, who was going to destroy the _whole_ planet?" The clone's expression seemed neutral now.

Shadow's eyes widened slightly. For a second, he was speechless. He quickly regained his composure and glared. "…How did you know about that?"

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?"

"…Tell me."

The clone smirked. "_Your_ thoughts and _my_ mind are linked."

More surprise filled Shadow. "What?!"

"No matter _where _you are, no matter _what_ you are doing, I can hear your thoughts. I know _every word you say_. I know everything you _consider_ doing…"

_No wonder he knew what Shadow said to me earlier today! _Rouge thought. She felt as if she were listening to a horror story… She realized it was worse than that, though.

She was in a horror story.

The clone continued, beginning to pace from side to side in a casual way. "I take a great deal of pleasure in listening to your darker thoughts. After all, if you don't do something, somebody else has to, don't they? Might as well be me…" He grinned. "So, when you were thinking about murdering Rouge and destroying the planet, I decided that destroying the world wouldn't be the best idea since it would end all the fun… But a little murder never hurt. Of course, I don't hear your thoughts all the time, but I like to listen in when I'm bored… I find everything you have issues with funny!"

"How is that even possible?!" Shadow could feel stress building up. He was fighting to accept these new facts while still keeping his guard up… It wasn't easy. _Just great! Now I have two people that can invade my mind!_

_I don't 'invade' your mind, as you put it. I'm trapped in it, you moron._ The voice scoffed.

A thought suddenly sparked in the Ultimate Life Form's mind. "Wait, if our minds our linked and you can hear my thoughts, why can't I hear yours?!"

The clone stopped pacing, a sly, evil smile curved upon his lips. "I'm the real Shadow… You're just a _clone_."


	8. Biting Words

***

The truth still hurt. He still couldn't believe what he had heard…

What Shadow had told him ripped at his heart.

Shadow was like a brother to him, and he couldn't understand what had caused him to have such thoughts. What had caused the evil in him to resurface? What had made him want to hurt his own friends?

From the building top on which he stood, he looked out over the city. Tonight, he felt like there was a hole inside of him. Why did it have to hurt so much to lose a friend?

He sighed, looking over the side of the building, down at the street below. The wind swept gently through his quills. The sounds of people below him drifted to his ears… but the sounds seemed quieter than usual. He was alone on the building's roof, nothing with him but his own thoughts…

Shadow had tried to apologize for his actions…

But did that mean anything?

***

Shadow wasn't sure what to think as he looked back at the clone. If the original 'Shadow' were able to read the minds of the copies, that would make sense…

Yet, after all that he had been through, and all that he could remember, how could he possibly be a fake? He had regained all his memories, and there didn't seem to be any conflict or contradiction between them…

And the fact that he could remember Maria if he wasn't the original made no sense to him. He could only stand there, feeling a bit uneasy, and glare at the creature before him…

"You want proof?"

Anger and bitterness swelled in Shadow's heart as he nodded. "Yes, I would like that very much."

Shadow's opponent pointed to his right shoulder. On his right arm, the marking was not the same as Shadow's was. Shadow's was triangular and ended just past the elbow; the villain's curled up slightly where it should have ended, then at the shoulder, formed something that looked very much like the Black Arms insignia… Shadow had, indeed, noticed this before, as well as Rouge. But neither had put much thought into it until now…

"If I were not the chosen one of the alien, Black Doom, why would I bear his mark? I bear his mark, and have his colors… You have only his colors. That would suggest that you were not the actual chosen, only a copy. Every other clone has flaws such as this. I am the only one with no flaw to suggest that I am a copy." The evil one stated with a great degree of seriousness.

Shadow blinked. He looked over the other hedgehog, examining his appearance. Though they looked nearly identical, there were two noticeable differences; the mark of the Black Arms on the opponent's right shoulder, and a minor difference in the markings on the opponent's head. The markings on his head had slight edges. They might be described as a bit spiky, with small amounts of red on the sides sticking out like the tips of knife blades.

Considering what had happened to the original Shadow in relation to the Black Arms, anyone might think that this other hedgehog looked more 'ideal' as Shadow…

But something lacked.

"Maria." Shadow said suddenly.

"…What about her?" The other hedgehog tilted his head slightly.

"If you're the real Shadow, then who was Maria?" Shadow demanded.

Rouge, in her puzzlement, kept quiet. However, she knew what Shadow was trying to get at the moment he mentioned Maria. She watched between the two hedgehogs nervously.

"She was the Professor Gerald's granddaughter, of course. She suffered of disease. Do you think I'm a _fool_?"

"That's not what I meant!" Shadow felt he was onto something… Surely, his memories were not false… "Who was she? What was her personality? What were her likes and dislikes? What was her favorite food? Her favorite game? Her favorite color? What kinds of things did she always say?!" His voice rose as his questions slowly became almost accusing. His tone shifted, sending a message so that Shadow himself needed not say anything more:

_You don't know the answers, because you never knew Maria._

The copy received this message. For several moments, there was a tense silence. His serious gaze slowly changed into a deadly glare.

"…I _am_ the real Shadow."

"Then why am I the one with the memory?"

Something inside of the clone's mind suddenly snapped. He lunged at Shadow, giving him less than a second to think. Shadow could not dodge, and he did not try. To dodge would be to let him tackle Rouge instead, since she was right behind him. Instead of dodging, he quickly changed the angle of the knife into a more offensive position.

Rouge gasped as both of them fell to the ground, engaging in a deadly wrestling match. Shadow stabbed at the copy, but missed. The copy grabbed his knife-wielding hand, yanking hard at his wrist. The old wound was torn back open, and Shadow let out a pained cry. The pain caused him to drop the knife, and the copy picked it up. He pinned Shadow down once again.

Rouge didn't know what to do.

The clone grabbed Shadow's other wrist, reopening that wound as well. Shadow could hardly think or try to use logic to get away. The pain jumbled his thoughts. He could think to do nothing but lie there.

"_Stop_!" Rouge cried out. "_You're hurting him_!"

But of course, the clone didn't care. He enjoyed every second of Shadow's misery. He tore open the wound to Shadow's chest, making it worse than it had been the first time. Shadow held back a cry, struggling desperately in the clone's grasp. Blood was gushing quickly from all of his wounds.

Rouge couldn't handle to see this again. She couldn't bear to lose Shadow. She sprung toward the clone, grabbing him by the quills roughly and tugging at them mercilessly. She choked on her own words, crying. "_**Leave him alone, you monster!**_"

The clone yelled, then growled fiercely. He elbowed the female bat hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. She let go, nearly coughing up blood, and completely unable to breathe for a few seconds. Before she even had the chance to regain her breath, he almost effortlessly pushed her to the ground, causing her to fall a few feet away.

The voice kept silent.

The clone quickly turned back to Shadow, digging his claw-like fingernails through his flesh. Shadow was breathing hard, in pain, and scared…

Scared to die and leave Rouge to fend for herself.

"I _**am**_ the real Shadow, you fake." The clone growled. "_**I am**_, and _nothing_ you say is going to change that!" He plunged the dagger into Shadow's side, twisting it slightly, and holding it there.

Shadow nearly screamed, but held all the pain inside that he could manage. Blood poured out. He did not struggle anymore. He did not fight. But he did shake, and tears of agony fell from his eyes.

For a few seconds there was silence. Shadow slowly looked at Rouge, then gazed straight into the eyes of the enemy…

Rouge looked on, her heart breaking as she watched.

"…_You're nothing… but a thorn in my side…_"

Silence resumed.

Suddenly, the clone smirked. He lowered his head slightly and let out a cruel, cold-blooded laugh. "A thorn? In _your_ side…? As if you even mean anything…!" The laughter continued for a moment, but he held his grip firm on the dagger.

Rouge stared, her anxiety beginning to grow. Shadow seemed entirely unaffected by the enemy's words and jeering hilarity. After a moment, the clone pulled Shadow off of the ground by his throat, choking him in the process. He held him with only one hand, holding the knife into Shadow's side with the other. Shadow began to feel lightheaded and dizzy.

"I _know_ I'm the real Shadow, and _no_ other hedgehog can have that name." He hissed menacingly, then after a moment, put on a sadistic smile. "All the same, I rather like that name… Thorn… So that's what you will call me, you pathetic weakling." He pulled the knife carelessly from Shadow's side, throwing him hard to the asphalt-coated street.

"Shadow, _no_!" Rouge cried, dashing to her friend's aid.

She no longer cared that she was in a nightgown. She no longer cared how cold she was, or worry about getting blood on herself. She didn't even care if she died. Within seconds, she was by Shadow's side as he pulled himself into a sitting position on his knees. Gently, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him and sobbing.

Faintly, all three of them heard a sound that was like thunder.

Rouge ignored it because of her sorrow.

Thorn completely ignored it due to anger. He had heard Rouge call Shadow by 'his' name, and just that would have been enough for him to want her to die.

Shadow was the only one who did not ignore it, and he wondered how a thunderstorm could be coming if the sky was practically cloudless before. Painfully, he slipped his arms around Rouge and hugged her back.

"Everything will be okay…" He whispered. "Don't cry…"

"N-no! It's not ok-kay…! Y-you can't die, Shadow! You… just c-can't!" She wept, trying not to cling to him or cause him more pain.

Shadow held her comfortingly, forcing a smile even though he wanted to cry too. "It's alright, don't worry…"

Thorn walked over, seething with rage. He ignored the unusually large gust of wind behind him, stabbing the dagger at Rouge's back…

Emerald eyes widened. Rouge froze. Thorn looked on in wonder.

Sonic the hedgehog had made it just in time to see Shadow move his hand in front of the blade. The dagger plunged all the way through it, but didn't even scratch Rouge. "Shadow?"

Thorn still had his hand on the dagger, trying to understand why anyone would be willing to put themselves through pain in order to protect someone else. The villain, of course, didn't understand anything about being helpful, or why it's better to be helpful than to be harmful. To him, causing hazards was a much more fun and painless activity… At least, for _him_ it was painless.

Rouge looked over her shoulder, staring at the dagger that had pierced though Shadow's hand in fear. Nothing could express how thankful she felt towards Shadow.

More tears of pain left Shadow's eyes, blurring his vision but he kept forcing a weak smile. He had to swallow back a scream, fighting to keep still and not let his pain control him. His eyes wandered over to Sonic, hearing his name called. He could barely tell who he was looking at, but his friend's voice he knew well.

"H-hello, S-sonic…" He managed to say.

Sonic stared in horror for a few a second, then looked around at all the blood on the ground.

"Come to join the party, blue hedgehog?" Thorn hissed, turning his attention to the young hero.

Their eyes locked.


	9. A Bitter End

Something within Sonic burned.

_Even if Shadow was going to kill us… He changed his mind… Maybe he's mentally unstable… or crazy… but I know he's a good person at heart…! I won't let him die like this! And I won't let him hurt Rouge either, because she doesn't deserve it at all! _ "_**You creep!**_" Thorn never saw what was coming. In an instant, the fifteen year old was in front of him. He kicked Thorn in the gut. The knife was ripped from Shadow's hand. Thorn lost his breath, but before he could even gasp, Sonic kicked him from behind right in the back. The clone slammed down onto the asphalt, unintentionally cutting himself in the arm.

He barely had time to process this before Sonic grabbed him up from off the ground, swinging him in circles fast enough to generate a wind devil. He was promptly sent flying though the air, crashing to the street ten yards away. On impact, his skull cracked. The dagger fell to the ground.

"Sonic, stop!" Shadow called out.

Reluctantly, Sonic did. "B-but… He was going to kill you! He's one of your clones, and you always take them down, and I don't want you or Rouge to get hurt anymore!" He stared at Shadow in confusion.

Thorn forced himself into sitting position, trying to recover.

"…T-take Rouge… Leave us… I have… to do this myself…" The Ultimate Life Form released his embrace on his best friend. "S-stay out of it…"

Sonic stared in grief. If Shadow tried to finish the fight alone, he knew he wouldn't survive it. There was already so much blood on the ground…

And most of it was Shadow's.

"No, I c-can't leave you…!" More tears slipped from Rouge's eyes. "Please!"

"Yes… you can… P-please do it f-for me…"

Sonic walked over to them, full of sorrow. He knew he needed to respect the black hedgehog's decision. "Come on, Rouge…"

Rouge didn't want to lose Shadow. "N-no! I pr-promised I would s-stay right h-here! I said I-I would stay w-with you…!"

Shadow fought to ignore the pain as he forced her to let go of him. He wasn't sure if he was talking to himself, or to Rouge as he spoke. "Don't c-cry…" He glanced at Sonic.

The fifteen year old knew what this meant, and quickly, but gently pulled the white bat away from her best friend. She couldn't help but to continue crying, but she stayed silent. The young hero led her away from the battle. She looked back as she was pulled away, feeling like she would never see Shadow again.

Thorn got up off the ground, looking angrily back at Sonic. He wanted to go after him, as well as Rouge, but he knew he had a job to do first.

He had to kill off his look-alike.

_Watch your back._ The voice warned. Shadow complied, weakly and dizzily forcing himself up. He looked over his shoulder at the clone, nearly choking on tears as the voice spoke up again. _You can do it._

Thorn picked his knife up off the ground. He began to advance toward the Ultimate Life Form.

Shadow turned himself around, pressing forward and fighting back tears. It was hard to stay focused…

"Do you really think you can win against me like that?" The clone sneered. "Any moment know, you'll drop dead because of blood loss. Now that I know what to expect from that blue hedgehog, it shouldn't be so hard for me to take him down, as well as your female friend."

"I can defeat you…" Shadow whispered. "I'm just as strong as you are… if not stronger…"

"Ah, but you've taken much more damage then me." Thorn replied, becoming almost cocky. "I'll take you down in three seconds…"

"I won't go down without a fight. I won't leave Sonic and Rouge to have to deal with the likes of you."

"Well then, this should be interesting…" The clone pointed his dagger at Shadow. Shadow did nothing but keep walking forward. After a few more seconds, they both stopped about three feet from each other. Sonic and Rouge watched from a distance.

Wordlessly, the battle reengaged. The knife was swung; a few punches were thrown and few kicks, too. Spindashes. Homing attacks. Chaos attacks, though they were limited. More blood spilled. Rouge could hardly bear to watch. Time passed; seconds, then minutes. For Sonic, not being allowed to get involved was torture, especially when the outcome was looking so grim.

Shadow was losing.

After seven minutes, he collapsed, falling in a puddle of cold, pure crimson; his own blood.

Just as before, everything hurt. Just as before, his senses were fading in and out. His vision was nearly gone. The only sense that seemed to still be working well was his hearing. The pain was so great, he would welcome death. He would welcome it to take away the agony and weariness that he felt… if only he knew Rouge would be safe.

But he knew she wouldn't be. Sonic could probably finish the job, but there was no guarantee that Thorn wouldn't pull some trick and manage to take Rouge's life while Sonic watched helpless. Rouge would not be officially safe until Thorn was dead.

He couldn't give up yet.

"Oh, how sad… The hero's going to drown in his own blood…" Thorn, who was quite a bit more injured than before, knelt over Shadow, pushing his head down on the ground. Of course, it would actually be hard for Shadow to drown in such a way, but Thorn was enjoying himself making a mockery of his adversary.

…It might have been wise if he had learned not to play around with his enemies, even weak or dying ones. Shadow was not completely helpless yet. He jerked his good hand up, snatching Thorn's dagger and using his other arm to push himself (mostly his head) up off the pavement. "…Not… if you go f-first…"

The clone seemed rather surprised, backing off a bit from Shadow like a coward. However, he stopped after only a few feet, realizing that such a thing could prove to be a huge mistake. "My, my… I suppose you _are_ stronger than I thought."

"Did I not warn you?"

"Indeed, you did…"

Shadow kept his head lifted, but remained on the ground. "I w-will fight… to stay a-live… And I'll fight you… I w-won't die u-until… I've defeated you…"

"And how do you intend on that? I could probably kill you right now if I stepped on your head. It would crush your skull and brain."

"I-I won't let you win…"

Thorn looked thoughtful. "… What sort of reasons do you have for being so protective? I've always wondered why my victims would trade their lives for certain people, or certain things…"

"I told you… Sh-she's my best friend…"

"And you love her?"

Shadow paused, glaring firmly. "…What's it to y-you?"

"Love is the most pathetic reason to ever give." Thorn spat. "Pleasures are one thing, but real love is useless."

Something sparked. Suddenly, Shadow was up, and before anyone realized what he was doing, he had already knocked Thorn to the ground, pinning him down. "Y-you're wrong… Real love is everything… E-even if it's just… the love from a fri-endship… 'Love conquers all'… 'Love never fails' … Love… is kindness… and care…" Shadow began to cry. "Friendship… and n-nothing… in this world… nothing would be any good without love… real l-love, not 'pleasures'…! I… would be… d-dead already… i-if not for kindness… or care I-I've been given… I-I would have d-died… before you e-even existed… War, hate, anger, illness, suffering… would be all… that ever existed… w-without love… U-unlike you, a sadist… most people are gr-eived by those th-things!" Thorn struggled against Shadow's hold, not seeming to be listening.

The Ultimate Life Form shook, barely keeping him down. His vision was even worse than before, and he could barely tell white from black. "I-I feel sorry… for you… That you can't understand… But I can't… I won't… Let you go, so you can hurt Rouge… I-I do care a-about my friends… And I d-don't care… if it's a c-crime… I'll protect them… until the day I die…"

"Fool!" Thorn hissed. "You say all these things… You don't even know if they would do the same for you! You say all these things, yet one false move and you know that you could end up back in an experimentation lab where there is no such thing as 'love'! You act as brainless as a child!"

"Children… are much smarter than m-most people th-think… S-sometimes… they u-understand… m-more… Maybe I'm just more… appreciative of w-what… care I'm given… N-now that I've… seen… the other side… I know… my friends would do the same f-for me… they a-already tried…" He slowly raised the dagger, trying to ignore how sorry he felt.

"So be it... watch as the whole world turns its back to you!"

"At least I won't do the same." Shadow whispered. He brought the knife down on Thorn, aiming at something he could barely identify as being white. The clone was unable to escape. The Ultimate Life Form was unable to miss. The knife pierced through copy's heart, killing him immediately.

After what seemed like hours of pain, it was finally over. Shadow moved off of his dead enemy, weakly crawling several feet away. He looked toward Sonic and Rouge.

Both were glad the fight was over… But Shadow looked _very_ tired and very weak. His eyes seemed almost lifeless… They both ran over, Sonic pulling Rouge behind him.

"Shadow, are you alright?" Sonic asked. By alright, he was actually asking if Shadow thought he would make it, since it was most obvious that Shadow was _not_ alright.

Even though the battle was over, Rouge was still crying. She wanted to hug Shadow, but she worried about hurting him more… and she worried that any time she took up to do so might take away time from getting him to a hospital. She'd rather have him survive than have him dead because she couldn't wait to comfort him.

What the Ultimate Life Form did next nearly shocked them.

Shadow slowly forced himself to his feet. For a few seconds he stood tall. However, as he made his way towards Sonic and Rouge, every step he took was strained, agonizing, labored… Most of his vision was painted in black. His wounds were surging with pain. He was stumbling a bit, barely able to keep his balance. His knees were ready to give out on him, and his breathing was shallow and ragged.

He had lost too much blood now. He could feel death taking him away again…

But he was thankful. Thankful that Sonic had let him fight for himself. Thankful that Sonic had kept Rouge out of danger…

He was thankful that Sonic had come back and had forgiven him. Now that he was forgiven and Rouge was safe, dying didn't matter to him. He felt that he was okay with it, and that now, he was at peace. Death would come upon him at any second, but there was only one thing he wanted to say…

Sonic wanted to cry. Shadow fought his way forward until he was only a foot or so away from Sonic. "I-I-I'm… alright… n-now… Th-thank y-you… S-sonic…" And just like that, he collapsed; lifeless.

Sonic caught him before he hit the ground, taking his old friend and adopted brother into his arms.

Now he couldn't help but cry.

He cried hard.


	10. Epilogue

It seemed unusually quiet. There were plenty of white patches of clouds scatted through the sky. A light breeze ruffled through his fur and quills as he stared up, lying on the cool grass.

Something had changed.

"…That looks like a boat…"

Beside him, Rouge the bat pointed out a cloud resembling a sailboat, smiling. It had already been a week since the previous incident, and now she was no longer sick…

It was good she had recovered. There had been too much shock. Too much trauma. Too much pain…

After a week, it still hurt to think over the events. It was all too heartbreaking.

Sonic the hedgehog smiled, thoughts far from the subject for the moment. "Yeah, it does… And _that_ one looks like Egghead." He grinned, pointing out another cloud that resembled the shape of Dr. 'Eggman' Robotnik's face.

Rouge laughed. They both barely could hear another voice chuckle.

Sonic turned his head to the other side. "What do you see, Shad?"

The black and red hedgehog was alive and well. Thanks to love, he had survived. He smiled up at the sky, stating smartly, "I see three friends talking together and having a great time."

"I don't see that… Wait; is there a mirror somewhere up there?"

Rouge laughed again.

"Really, whatever Shadow's seeing, I can't see it up there." Sonic shrugged.

"Well, no one ever made a rule that you can't point out something that's not in the sky while you're looking at the clouds." Rouge crossed her arms.

"Yeah, right! I'm sure it's in the rulebook somewhere, otherwise we might as well be playing 'I spy'…"

Shadow continued to smile up at the sky, just thinking and letting his mind drift away…

Until a thought suddenly occurred to him.

_Hey… Thanks… so much… for all the times you've helped me… And thanks for encouraging me during that fight last week… But…you never tell me what your name is… or why you decide to help me sometimes… Can you tell me, just for once?_ Shadow already knew the answer. When it came, he just rolled his eyes with a smile.

_Go throw yourself off a cliff._

_**Xx THE END xX**_

_**A/N : Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! =) **_

_**UPDATE, 10/16/10: And special thanks to everyone who submitted a review (even if a year later. I'll appreciate a review even if it's 10 years late XD) or added this story to their favorites. I am currently working on a sequel/alternate version of this story called Merging Lies… I'm hoping to get it finished before Halloween, but if I don't, since I tend to procrastinate, I will be sure to at least have the first chapter up. I don't expect that Merging Lies will be as good [then again, that's what I always say], but it will be a nice horror story. =P I hope you guys will like it.**_

_**~Starz**_


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